


Alex Manes Appreciation Week

by el_gilliath



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Feels, Child abuse in chapter 5, Happy Ending, M/M, alexmanesweek2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-18 12:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_gilliath/pseuds/el_gilliath
Summary: Day 1: Dreaming with a broken heart….Day 2: Alternate Universe (AU)Day 3: Alex interacting with others he hasn’t yet. (ie Max, his mom, Sheriff, etc)Day 4: Alien shenanigansDay 5: Canon, canon divergence, what-ifs, fix-itsDay 6: Crossovers, fusions, other fandoms (ie Alex at Hogwarts or a hunter in SPN)Day 7: Futurefic





	1. Day 1: Dreaming with a broken heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 1: Dreaming with a broken heart

He doesn’t want to open his eyes. He doesn’t want to know that something is missing. He doesn’t want to know that he will never be whole again. He wants to go back to a simpler time. To those precious hours at the alien museum where everything was so simple as being in love. When kissing Michael was the simplest thing in his life. When he could dream of their future together, of the house they would get, and the love that would fill it. Of any children they might have, be they made with fur or human skin. Of coming home after work to find Michael and kiss him with sounds of love and laughter surrounding them. Of living a long life with Michael by his side always. A full, whole and glorious life.

But if he opens his eyes, that all goes away into a broken heart. And he would rather be dreaming.


	2. Day 2: Alternate Universe (AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a part of what will eventually be my huge Serial Killer AU, where Michael, Isobel & Max where picked up by someone who decided to keep them with him and teach them all in the way of killing bad men&women.

The first time Alex Manes laid eyes on Michael Guerin his whole world came to a complete halt for a few seconds. Being gay in small town New Mexico wasn’t exactly easy and crushes could be dangerous, instead of the fun&flirty thing it should be. So he had never paid much attention to any guy, besides gossiping with Maria and Liz about how hot some boys were. And god knows those girls would protect him with their life if they had to. Michael Guerin on the other hand was the most attractive person he had ever seen. The broad shoulders, narrow waist and pretty face was one thing, the strong hands and his spectacular ass another. But the golden-brown halo of curls on his head was the thing that did it. And never in his life did Alex think that curls would do it for him, but apparently it did.

So he stood there, going silent in the middle of a conversation with Maria and Liz to stare at a boy who walked onto school grounds, a tall, blonde girl and a broody male on either side of him.

“Oh my god. I didn’t know they were starting today”

Alex turned his head towards Maria, his eyes still on the boy with the curls “You know who they are?”

“Yeah, my mom knows their caretaker. That’s the Guerin triplets, the tall blonde is Isobel, the broody guy is Max and curly in the middle is Michael”

“They are all seriously hot people” Liz said, and Alex couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

“That they are. The first time I met them was when we were all 13, and even then they were gorgeous. They have a pretty rough history though, so they might seem a bit intense if you talk to them. But they have kind souls so don’t be too bothered by it”

Alex looked over at Maria and found her looking at the three with a small smile on her face. Liz on the other hand was staring at Max much like he was looking at Michael.

He looked over at the three again, and his breath caught in his throat as he met curly, Michael’s, eyes. And even across the distance he could see intense, beautiful, brown eyes. His lips stretched in a small smile involuntarily as the beautiful boy looked back at him in what he hoped was obvious interest. He registered that Maria and Liz were still talking about the trio, Maria telling Liz what little she knew of their story and how they were originally from Roswell but had moved all around America and how their caretaker decided to bring them back for senior year. But he was far too busy staring at Michael, who was walking along with his siblings and staring back, a small smirk on his face as he ran a hand through his curls. Alex couldn’t help but lick his lips when he did that, something that the other boy obviously noticed because the smirk just got bigger. They looked at each other until they couldn’t any more, Michael ending it with a deliberate wink just before he walked into the school.

Alex exhaled sharply and looked back over to Liz and Maria who were both looking at him with a teasing smile on their faces.

“So I guess you agree that at least one of them is hot, huh” Maria said with a wink at him. He huffed out a small laugh and just nodded. It wasn’t like he could hide anything from them anyway with how well they knew one another. But his mind went back to Michael and that look almost immediately, the wink replaying in his mind with the warm feeling of interest in his stomach.

Little did he know that that look would change his life forever.


	3. Day 3: Alex interacting with others he hasn’t yet

“You brought my son to Caulfield.”

To say that Alex doesn’t expect to hear that from the Sheriff as he’s loading groceries into his car would be a gross understatement. While Sofia Valenti was a very big part of his life growing up, he hasn’t really seen her since he came back to Roswell. His relationship with Kyle is too fresh, too vulnerable, too adult now for parents to be involved.

“Kyle is a very stubborn boy, Alexander, as you probably know. Him going to Caulfield was not a good idea” she says, looking at him from beneath her hat.

“What do you mean?” he asks, narrowing his eyes as she just keeps looking at him. The usual warmth in her eyes is hidden and she only looks tired. Like she’s been keeping a secret for too long. “You know about Project Shepherd.”

“Yes. And I know your father killed my husband.”

“How long have you known?” He doesn’t need this in his life right now. There is too much going on, between Michael, Max, Rosa and everything else. But he needs to know.

“Since a week after Jim died. The letters he left weren’t just for Kyle.” And isn’t that a kicker on his metallic leg. Which means that she has kept this a secret from Kyle for years.

“You know this will kill Kyle if he ever finds out.”

“I know. Which is why you can’t tell him”

Alex narrows his eyes. “And if I refuse?”

“I’ve protected the Evans twins and Michael Guerin for years. I won’t be able to do that anymore if you tell.” With those parting words she tips her head at him, turns around and walks over to her own car. And Alex is left wondering if all their parents have secrets that could potentially destroy everything and everyone he loves.


	4. Day 4: Alien Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Alien shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDEK what this part is, but this is what my brain wanted to write. And my headcanon of Alex and his M4 Carbine agreed

“Hold on. You want me to shoot at you?”

“Yeah”

“With my semi-automatic, incredibly powerful M4 Carbine. That has a M320 rocket launcher equipped to it.”

“Yeah!”

“Guerin, I am not that pissed at you.” Of all the stupid shit Michael Guerin had ever asked him to do, this has to be the worst. “You condone this?”

Isobel snorted. “No. But he’s stubborn enough that he will make it happen regardless so I’d rather it be you who shot him because you won’t hit him in the head. Besides. He wants to show off for you”

Alex just looks at her as Michael squawks in indignation on his right, Max trying to suppress a laugh on his left.

“He’s asking me to shoot him so he can show off his telekinesis? Like I haven’t seen him use it a thousand times by now?”

“Yeah,” Max says through his chuckles. “That’s exactly what he’s doing.”

Alex sighs, turning his eyes back to Michael who’s glowering at his siblings by now. And making a split-second decision, he loads his rifle and lifts it up against his left shoulder. “You better not let me shoot you in the head.”

The widening of Michael’s eyes makes it all worth it. Even if he’s not actually planning to shoot.


	5. Day 5: Canon, canon divergence, what-ifs, fix-its

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Canon, canon divergence, what-ifs, fix-its
> 
> THIS PIECE HAS DESCRIPTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE. IF THAT IS A TRIGGER FOR YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ AS I DON'T WANT TO   
> HURT YOU.

“I’m not leaving.”

Standing his ground in front of his father is the scariest thing Alex has ever done. He knows the beating he will get if this fails will be the worst he has ever gotten. But he has to try. If not for himself then for Michael. Sweet, beautiful Michael who is in so much pain because of him.

“I don’t want to hear it. You’re enlisting and that’s final,” Jesse Manes tells him in no uncertain terms. The anger is already starting to cloud his eyes and Alex knows he has 5 minutes at the most before hellfire starts raining. Please let this work.

“If you make me leave I will expose you.”

Jesse chuckles darkly. “And how will you do that, son?”

“I have pictures.” And that rises the anger in his father’s eyes, fast. “Pictures of every time you’ve beaten me, every time you’ve kicked me, every time you’ve thrown me into a wall. I’ve been collecting them for years, dad. Just waiting for this.”

“And where are these pictures?” Jesse asks, and he’s now gotten to the part that Alex fears the most. The calm and quiet anger. The one he’s inherited.

“With Jim Valenti.”

And even if he is expecting the punch, the force Jesse puts behind it still takes him by surprise. His head snaps to the side hard and quickly enough that he feels his neck click in protest. The punch to his stomach seconds later makes him double over and gag. His nose cracks on impact with Jesse’s knee. And as his father continues to rain down blows on his, he knows that he failed.

And then he hears it. Sirens. Far away but coming closer. Closer still until they stop outside his house, his father panicking above him, making threats he can’t hope to match with the evidence he knows Sheriff Valenti has. Pictures of his entire body bruised, battered and bleeding from he was 10 to 17. Pictures of Michael’s hand after he took the hammer to it.

He blacks out as he hears the shout of “Police!” coming through his front door. Knowing that he is safe, at least for a little while.


	6. Day 4: Day 6: Crossovers, fusions, other fandoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 6: Crossovers, fusions, other fandoms (ie Alex at Hogwarts or a hunter in SPN)
> 
> My Alex is a Shadowhunter and Michael is a warlock

The seraph blade lights up beautifully in his hands, the runes powering the second he says its name. It feels good to hold the blade in his hand; the balance is perfect and the weight of it just so.

“You sure the protection spells will hold?” he asks as he twirls the sword to get a feel for it as it moves. The light in it moves like it should, but it’s the edge of pink that catches the most light. The extra spells infusing with the runes exactly the way he hoped it would.

“What do you take me for Alex, of course it’ll hold.”

He looks over at Michael and smiles. The warlock looks like he usually does, scruffy and kind of unkept. But so, so beautiful, the way his curls shine in the light. He knows this is just the persona Michael keeps so that people won’t know exactly how much power he holds. How much death and destruction he can wage with his hands. Even Alex doesn’t know, but he can feel it through their Alliance rune binding them together.

But he does come with the highest of recommendations, and if Magnus Bane-Lightwood tells you that this guy knows what he’s doing. Well, you listen. Even if he does sort of smell like a river (“My magic is mostly water based, of course I smell like a river”)

“Hey. I promise it will protect you, okay?”

“I know, you wouldn’t have bound yourself to me if you didn’t believe that” Alex answers, the smile still on his face. Michael just huffs at him as he grabs the cowboy hat he tends to wear when wielding his magic.

“Come on, let’s get this battle over with so I can finally kiss you” Michael says with a wink, moving his hands in the pattern that opens a portal. And if Alex moves just a bit faster when he hears that and takes a hold of Michael’s hand as they walk through the portal, well that’s between them.


	7. Day 7: Futurefic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 7: Futurefic
> 
> Before anyone comments, yes I know this is from Michael’s POV. But this is what my brain wanted. And I always listen to my creative brain. This story came from this prompt made by my beloved Marlo @bestillmyslashyheart  
> 3) Michael self-destructs rather spectacularly after s1. After everything he’d gone through feeling Max die on him was his last straw. Maria tries to stick around and help him for a while but eventually she can’t anymore not without getting pulled down with him. So Michaels all on his own and yet somehow he wakes up most days in his own bed, his trailer is kept clean and tidy, theres always food in his fridge, and he never loses his job. At first he assumes its Isobel looking out for him but eventually (after months bc he really is a dumbass) he realizes that Alex has been coming by at night when hes drunk out of his mind and helping to keep his life in order just enough so that he doesn’t spiral any further. Its as much as he could do after Michael told him to leave and never come back. That he couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore. But Alex is done walking away and he’s putting his money where his mouth is.

It's dark in his head. The chaos and entropy doesn’t shut down any more. Ever. And he hates it. The guitar helped for 5minutes. Maria for 10. But both of them left him, and now he’s alone. All alone, the way he should be. He’s the entropy, he’s the chaos, he’s the fucking reason his mother is dead, the reason Max is dead, the reason Isobel works harder and harder and harder to get Max back. But they can’t. It’s been months and they are nowhere close.

Liz can’t be around him anymore because he’s given up. Rosa never liked him so she’s out anyway. Kyle has always been a no. He pushed Alex so far away by not showing up and going to Maria that he knows he can never fix it. Isobel is too busy for him and he understands that. He doesn’t even have the Pony anymore, because that is Maria’s space and he knows he’s not welcome right now. It’s all his fault, all of it.

All he has now is the acetone. The booze. A panel of a spaceship that there is no use in fixing since Antar is war torn and destroyed anyway. Everything he ever had; any glimmer of hope is gone.

He drinks in front of his trailer now. Sometimes in the caves next to their pods. Sometimes at Saturn’s Rings. He always mixes enough booze and acetone to pass out. But he always wakes up in the trailer when he does. Unless he goes home with someone before he passes out but he’s usually too drunk and too far gone for that.

He rages out with his telekinesis and destroys everything in his Airstream. But he wakes up to it clean and tidy, his fridge full of food, a fresh bottle of water on the floor next to his bed. He doesn’t know why Isobel keeps looking out for him when she’s busy with Max, but he never tells her to stop. Maybe it feels good to know that someone cares for him. Not that he deserves it. But somewhere in the deep dark abyss that is his mind now a days he knows that he needs it.

Sanders never calls and fires him either, even if he knows that he hasn’t really been doing his job for months. He tries, but not even engines and fixing things help. It just makes him lose control even further and makes him dive for the acetone bottle. Healthy coping is overrated anyway.

He hates everything his life is. All the aches and pain intensifying in his head, making it feel like the entropy is crushing his spirit. And maybe it is. Maybe it’s crushing everything he is. He knows he hasn’t been halfway sober in a couple of months at least. Maybe he should be scared of that but the only thing he feels is relief. Like he needs it so he can forget about the trauma. Forget about the good things in his life that he doesn’t deserve anymore or broke apart in his rage and sadness.

So when Isobel drives into the junkyard about three months after Max dies he’s surprised. He’s not anywhere close to sober, but he’s not anywhere near drunk enough to black out either. That is what drinking steadily does to you, you need just that much more to go under.

“You still on the bender then?” She asks as she walks up to where he is sitting in front of the Airstream. He just looks at her and takes another sip of the bourbon bottle in his hand.

“It’s been three months you know, maybe it’s time you get your head out of your ass and realize you have a problem.” The anger in her voice washes over him but he’s too lost to care. So he just drinks more, his mind is churning and he needs it to stop.

“Michael! I need you! Max needs you! Doesn’t that mean anything?!” She’s shouting now, the anger backed by a psychic lash that digs into his brain. Too bad his brain is filled with too much chaos anyway.

“Fine. I don’t know how the hell you’ve survived these three months but come talk to me when you’re not broken. I need my brother, Michael,” she says, before she turns and gets into her car. And of course she needs Max, she always did. No one needs him, he’s not worth it. And it only makes the spiral deeper.

\-----------

It’s a couple days later when he’s trying to do some work that her words finally penetrate his mind. It makes him freeze, because if Isobel doesn’t know how he’s been surviving then who is helping him out? If she didn’t get him home and into bed at night, if she didn’t keep his Airstream and clothes clean, if she didn’t put food in his fridge. Then who is?

There’s no way it’s Maria, she told him in no uncertain terms that she was done, that she couldn’t handle whatever trauma he had going on. Not that he blames her, he hurt her pretty bad too when his easy didn’t turn out quite so easy.

It can’t be Liz or Rosa, both of them are too busy with making Rosa being alive seem plausible and trying to find a way to bring Max back. The guilt of not helping them threatens to overcome him every day but he know’s he wouldn’t be much help anyway.

It’s not Kyle. Valenti wouldn’t do that, even if his motto is Do No Harm. And besides he has a newly resurrected sister to get to know.

That leaves only one person. The person he might have hurt most of all. The person Michael told to leave and never come back. The person he told that he couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore. That seeing Alex was like looking at Jesse Manes, at the death and destruction brought to him by the Manes family. That their cosmic connection didn’t mean shit and that he was done loving Alex.

He hasn’t let himself think about that moment for three months. Hasn’t let himself think about the tears that ran down Alex’s cheeks, about how he held himself as if he was a tiny, hurt child. About the devastation and heartbreak he could see in his eyes. About how Alex tried to reach out and he pushed him away with his powers. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to firmly get his point across. About how he looked away and walked away from Alex for once.

He knows deep down he regrets it. He told Isobel that he loved Alex and that he probably always would. It’s still true, he loves him with his entire heart. Which is why he broke it. So he could forget.

\-----------

He doesn’t drink as much that night. He needs to know for sure. He still drinks more than enough, enough to fall asleep in the lawn chair he’s sitting in. But not enough that he will stay sleeping through whatever happens.

And a fair few hours after he’s fallen asleep, he wakes up as someone hauls him up from the chair he’s been sitting on.

“Come on Michael, help me out a little,” he hears Alex say as he slowly maneuvers them to the Airstream and up the stairs. He makes soft mumbling noises as he drags Michael into the trailer and deposits him on the bed, helping him out of his jeans and shirt before tucking him into bed. Michael cracks his eyes open as he walks away from the bed and watches him tidy up the tiny bit of mess Michael has made during the day. He watches Alex check the fridge, nod to himself as if he’s happy at what he’s found and take out a water bottle. He closes his eyes again as Alex turns towards the bed and listens as he walks over and puts the bottle of water next to the bed. He has to hold himself back from reacting when he feels Alex run his fingers through his hair.

“I wish you didn’t do this to yourself. I wish you would let me help. I love you, Michael” Alex whispers, before he feels the cool pressure of lips against his forehead. 30 seconds later Alex is out the door and his car is driving away. And Michael falls into a pitiful sleep, the entropy in his head renewed with how Alex can care for him with everything he has done and said to the man.

\-----------

It takes him another two weeks to decide how to handle this. Two weeks of him drinking just enough to fall asleep, but not enough to not wake up when Alex inevitably comes for him. And it’s the same thing every night. Alex gets him into bed, Alex tidies the Airstream and refills the fridge if he has too. He leaves a bottle of water, runs his fingers through his hair and tells him he loves him. It’s enough to make Michael remember that he is loved. The trauma is nowhere near dealt with, but he starts working a bit more to start feeling some semblance of normality. He drinks a little less so he can appreciate what Alex does for him. He calls Isobel to tell her he’s slowly seeing the light, and she cries in his ear and tells him she loves him and that she is glad her brother is coming back to her, even if it is slowly.

That night, he pretends to sleep in his chair when Alex arrives. But as soon as Alex walks over to him to help him into bed, he opens his eyes and looks directly at Alex. He’s not sober now either, but it is the least he’s had to drink since Max died.

“Hi,” he says as he watches Alex freeze like a deer in headlights. Fear enters his eyes for a moment, but it quickly replaced by resignation.

“How long have you known?” Alex asks, his voice low and sad.

“Two weeks.” Alex exhales loudly, doing that thing where he breathes slowly through pursed lips. He knows it’s a PTSD coping mechanism.

“I’m sorry. I know you told me to stay away”

“Are you? Really?” he asks, watching Alex with as open an expression on his face as he can manage. Alex shifts his weight on his good leg and nods. Carrying around a drunk, grown man can’t be easy on his leg.

“Then why did you do it? Why take care of me when I spoke to you like that?”

Alex exhales again, and swallows loudly. “I told you I was done walking away. Even if you won’t want me around, I need to own up to that. And whichever way I can help, I will.”

Michael just looks at him. He has so much to deal with, so much hurt to heal. He’s not ready for anything close to what he knows Alex wants. To what he knows deep down that he wants too.

“I’m broken, Alex. The entropy never shuts down anymore. The chaos doesn’t stop. Right now I can’t be more than that. I need to be just me so I can deal with it” he says, broken and battered as he is. But still something in him is thankful that he has someone like Alex in his life.

“I can wait. It’s my turn to wait. Just let me help you” Alex replies. There’s nothing like hope in his eyes, but Michael can still feel the tiny spark of hope in him. Like he wants to be there for Michael in any way he can. And if that doesn’t say something about the man Alex is, then what would.

“I can’t promise a happy ending.”

“I don’t care. I just want an ending”

Michael nods, his lips quirking up slightly at the relief that enters Alex’s posture. He’s going to be broken for a long time still. Even if he can feel his heart mending just slightly. Like it wants to be whole again. And some day, maybe he’ll be ready to want that too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alex Manes Appreciation Week, complete!


End file.
